Weekend Wrap-Up

Life gets busy for us in the winter and this weekend was no exception :).

 

Friday night we had an away game and lost...boo but the boys played hard.

 

Saturday we I had big plans. Noah had freshman and then varsity practice from 10-2 so I was on my own :).

 

 

Every year all of my great aunts and cousins bake cookies and then all of the great-grands decorate them. There are 30ish of us and we range from 23 to 8 months of age. So Saturday morning was the day for that. My mom and I iced cookies for about an hour and these came home with me. (I iced them so they were safe from little fingers!)

We picked up Jill and grabbed lunch. We were working the Toy Store at our church...Jill & I were put on packing duty. When people are done shopping you put their presents in a black trash bag so it's hidden.

It is such a humbling experience working the toy store. I worked once in high school but not since. The Toy Store is for families who may not be able to provide Christmas for their children. They can come here and shop for free (they have to sign up first). Children who would normally not get any presents are able to through this event.

 

I also love that many different churches come together to put this Toy Store together :).

 

 

 

Noah and I got home around the same time...I made monster cookies and this was on while the cookies were baking....

 

Don't these look yummy??

 

Recipe:

 

Monster Cookies

Ingredients

- 3 eggs

- 1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

- 1 cup granulated sugar

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 12 oz jar of creamy PB (that's a cup and a half if you have a big jar in your pantry like me)

- 1 stick of softened butter (I use margarine)

- 1/2 cup M&Ms

- 1/2 cup chocolate chips

- 1/4 cup or so of raisins

- 2 tsp baking soda

- 4 1/2 cups quick cooking oatmeal (not instant)

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) In a large bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. (I don't use my stand mixer... just a wooden spoon). Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter and butter. Mix well. Stir in the M&Ms, chocolate chips, raisins, baking soda and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheets.

3) Bake for about 8-10 mins. I usually do 9 and they seem "gooey" when they come out, but they're PERFECT once they cool.

4) Leave them on the cookie sheets for a few minutes and then move them to a cooling rack

 

 

Recipe courtsey of Andrea.

 

They are always a hit when I make them :).

 

Time consuming but worth it.

 

 

Tomorrow I'll share about our Sunday...think Christmas traditions......